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Key aspects of Urban 2.0
An approach to improving the world's cities and towns
Urban 2.0 exists to support a vision to make urban environments thriving, green and resilient places, with the three main areas of this vision linked to an Urban 2.0 system (described below) and with two connecting threads of inclusivity and engagement - for cities and towns to be thriving, inclusive, green, engaged and resilient.
Systems thinking helps us consider the interactions and interlinkages that exist in what we do.
In the context of cities and towns and urban places, this means the interactions and interlinkages of how people's lives, the places where they live and work, and the nature we exist with, join together.
Using Urban 2.0 can provide the following benefits:
- Connecting the dots, avoiding silos - a systems approach ensures we consider all aspects and apply the Urban 2.0 principles when we look at specific challenges and ideas for urban areas, which helps us with aspects including policy and regulations, placemaking approaches, design and scope creation, and the implementation of initiatives.
- Ensuring meaningful involvement - by using the system we need to involve everyone in discussions and reviews (because we must think of all parts and aspects of the city / town).
- Achieve good outcomes - by applying the system we focus on achieving meaningful benefits that make a difference in the near-term and the long-term.
Principles of Urban 2.0
Seven principles seem to be common in good urban examples
In reviewing many examples of urban initiatives around the world, seven common principles tend to appear frequently. These seven principles are part of Urban 2.0. They may be updated over time as further research is undertaken.
1. The right mindset to achieve good urban places comes first, and it has two points to it: (A) people deserve to live good lives, and (B) we must collectively design, maintain and monitor our urban places.
2. The right investment includes creating good Investment Cases to secure the right type of funding and investment from appropriate sources that can provide the best value to society, the economy and the environment. The right investment can focus on one urban place, or several places (as a connected approach).
3. Good governance requires a political and economic vision to care for people and the planet. By being well-informed, accountable and transparent, good governance ensures investments and funds are in place and managed well, that the right actions are agreed and being worked on, and that meaningful social, environmental and economic benefits are agreed and monitored for success.
3. Systems thinking underpins the Urban 2.0 system, because it ensures everyone understands and appreciates that there are many interlinkages between the parts of an urban environment which need to be considered when we look at how to adapt and improve with scarce resources.
4. Meaningful involvement means that all groups of people - young and old, and with different backgrounds and interests - are properly involved in reviews of how we need to evolve. For the people that oversee cities and towns, this means proper, meaningful engagement action.
5. Meaningful targets sees us agree where you are and want to be, based on where we stand today through assessing data and using an urban diagnostic, and setting targets with key indicators that are practical and acted on if agreed threshold limits for them are "reached" (indicators and their thresholds can change over time, as context changes).
7. Meaningful benefits should be achieved in the near-term and long-term, and be monitored against key indicators to check whether activities and investments are having the intended impact for people, nature and the economy. Systems thinking is used to assess how outcomes and benefits are linked together, from the local level through to global-level frameworks and targets including the Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs), climate change mitigation and adaptation measures advised by the IPCC, the New Urban Agenda, the Humanitarian Agenda, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
The Urban 2.0 system
The Urban 2.0 system
The Urban 2.0 system has five interlinked parts:
(1) governance which oversees
(2) the ecological system
(3) the physical (structural) system
(4) the socio-economic system
(5) and knowledge sharing and continuous improvement [the "glue" between (2), (3) and (4)]
These five parts are comprised of 17 sections, each of which are sub-divided into greater detail.
All 17 sections are interlinked with each other. For example, Infrastructure: transport & mobility has links to the 16 other sections, which influence how well it functions - meaningful benefits are not solely about providing good transport infrastructure.
The Urban 2.0 framework
A framework of tools and templates
The Urban 2.0 framework contains tools and templates for improving urban environments, and case studies from around the world. It exists to help people deliver good outputs for cities and towns.
It does not include standard operating procedures (SOPs) or example policies, since these types of artefacts are specific to governance teams (e.g. municipal authorities) in each urban area. Guidance is available on how to draft good policies (please make contact if you are interested in this).
Visit Urban 2.0 for more information.
